Feature Materials Handling & Conveying
at the customer’s cold storage facility by more than 70% - without the customer having to expand its existing floor space. Established in 1998, JWCI is a small-to-medium sized company of process engineers. The company spe- cialises in the design, manufacture and installation of processing equip- ment and pipework systems for a variety of customers in dairy, food, chemicals and other process indus- tries. Solutions provided by JWCI include hygienic cooling systems, centralised cleaning and washdown systems, mobile and tracked storage racks, boiler units, electrical control systems and accessories such as hygienic pipe fittings.
JWCI MD John Clarke commented, “Many of our customers require bespoke solutions tailored to their specific requirements and so it is critical that we have good support from our suppliers in order for us to react quickly and deliver bespoke systems on time to the customer.” Commenting on the project, Clarke continued, “We had to meet very strict timescales and budgets on this project and so it was important that our suppli- ers delivered on time and within budget - both of which I’m pleased to say Schaeffler did. We would therefore have no hesitation in specifying Schaeffler products again in the future.” He continued, “Over the last five years or so, JWCI has designed and installed storage racking systems of var- ious designs for cheese producers. The first project involved the design and installation of a relatively small system, designed to fit the existing floor space for a customer. The second project, for a different customer, was installed as a trial racking system. The success of this spurned a third project in 2012, which involved the design and installation of a much larger cheese racking system to be installed in a second floor storage room at the customer’s site. This system was designed to utilise the whole room, from floor to ceiling.”
The third project
In this third project, the customer - a small UK-based producer of Stilton
30
Cheese storage on a roll T
JWCI Process Engineering has solved a cheese storage challenge for its customer with the help of track roller guidance systems from Schaeffler UK
he tracked storage racking systems, which were designed, manufac- tured and installed by JWCI, have increased cheese storage capacity
ing system that could be easily moved by a single operator, eliminating trip hazards and resulting in a safer work- ing environment.”
The slabs of cheese, which typi- cally measure 220-300cm, are stored in temperatures of 10-12°C. The stor- age racks are 3.5m high and 18m in length, and utilise almost all the existing space in the cold storage area - from floor to ceiling. As and when required, the racks of cheese prod- ucts can be manually pushed or pulled from storage by simply sliding the racks back and forth along the low friction top guide rails - which requires minimal effort. Essentially, the top guide rails prevent the storage racks from falling over by supporting the loads and ensuring that the racks remain inline at all times.
For the racking system top rails, JWCI specified a total of 48 x 3 metre long LFS series solid profile guide- ways from Schaeffler, as well as LFR series locating track rollers and bolts. LFR series locating track rollers are double row angular contact ball bear- ings that comprise an outer ring with a Gothic arch profile, an inner ring and two ball and cage assemblies. The inner ring and outer ring are made from 100Cr6 rolling bearing steel. The special outer ring provides two-point contact in the contact zone with the raceway. The bearings can support axial forces from both directions, as well as radial forces.
Summary
cheese - needed to increase its produc- tion output significantly without having to invest in new cold storage facilities or expand its existing storage floor space for cheese products. Clarke added, “Unless a solution was found to the storage issue, this could have prevented further growth of the cus- tomer’s business. We therefore designed a stainless steel tracked rack- ing system that utilised the existing storage space much more effectively, which meant the customer could increase production output signifi- cantly without having to invest in new premises or expand its existing cold storage facility. “We designed, manufactured and installed a fully hygienic tracked rack-
Chris Lait, regional sales engineer at Schaeffler UK commented, “For the cheese storage racks, we custom engi- neered the track rollers in stainless steel in order to provide maximum corrosion resistance and to protect the guides from frequent washdowns, as well as to withstand the low ambi- ent temperatures in the cool storage facility. In addition, the bolts, which are manufactured in high strength screw steel, were supplied with con- centric and eccentric collars, which enabled JWCI to easily assemble the top rail guideways to the racks on- site. The track roller guides are dry running and so do not require relu- brication, which was also important to the customer in terms of minimis- ing maintenance and servicing of the racking system.”
Schaeffler (UK)
www.schaeffler.co.uk T: 0121 313 5870
Enter 222 JANUARY 2014 Automation
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44